A site where a man with far too much interest in beer gets to write about it.

Wednesday, 26 March 2014

No amount of hype can drown concerns about taste

There's another great line quoted in the latest issue of the IBD magazine:

'A report from Mintel suggests that mainstream US brewers have mostly failed to have any lasting impact on sales with expensive brand extensions. Bud Light Platinum for instance made some early inroads with heavy promotional spend but "growth quickly dried up after drinkers recognised that no amount of hype can drown concerns about taste."'

I don't suppose the findings will come as much of a surprise to beer geeks but I am starting to wonder why it keeps happening. There's no reason that big breweries can't make any beer they like so why do many keep getting it wrong? Some would try to explain it by lack of passion but I've never been taken with such vague explanations. I do have to wonder if anyone in the companies involved actually drinks the beer they're trying to sell though. If they did they might be able to producing a beer people actually want to drink, which should even save a few bob on the promotional spend.

These people are marketing managers & from their perspective what they are doing is logical. For years focus groups told them younger drinkers didn't like the taste of booze and they needed blander sweeter products. As establish products go into decline they develop extensions.

In part, though, they are not wrong. Hoppy craft beer may be an expanding niche but SU bars across the country are full of kids drinking koppaberg juicy fruit.